Small Texas community stands by man who killed daughter's alleged abuser

[das_nut]

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just questioning, that's all. Nothing wrong with questioning things.

One thing I found odd though is that several reports said the child still had her pants and underwear pulled down when the police arrived. This isn't television, the police are going to take some time to get there. Would a parent really make their child stand around with their pants pulled down? But people react differently to a crisis.

It's a sad case, and I think it's likely that the father's account is more or less accurate. But I do hope that the police didn't go by first impressions and decide what happened and selected evidence to confirm their initial scenario.

Guess maybe I'm just skeptical of the Texas law enforcement, considering their horrible past screw ups

 

[mlp]

Are you sure you aren't getting things confused? The articles I read said that the perpetrator had his pants and underpants pulled down when the responders arrived, not the child. Which would make perfect sense - if they were afraid he was dying (as he was), they would not have wanted to move him unnecessarily before the ambulance arrived.

 

[das_nut]

Maybe I am. Although I thought the article I read said both were partially unclothed when the police arrived. But I could be msitaken.

I will note that some versions of the story puts the attack as happening inside the house, and others say it happened near a barn.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Does castle doctrine delineate a difference between the two? For those who don't know, castle doctrine references the phrase a man's home is his castle and recognizes that he has every right to defend it (and its occupants). Just wondering if the barn qualifies under castle doctrine.

Well I'm not a lawyer but I would think if someone comes onto your property to abduct your child and rape her he's fair game wherever you catch him.

 

[das_nut]

I'm not a lawyer, but the Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground laws differ by state.

However, I don't think this comes into play here. My impression is that a person can use force to defend another. It's similar to self-defense.

In any case, what would normally be considered is if the father continued his assault after the man was no longer a threat. The father is probably legally justified to use force, including even possibly deadly force to end the attack on his daughter. But if he continued to use force after the danger had passed, it tends to be illegal. So if the father beat the man while his daughter was trying to escape, he's in the clear. But if the alleged molester attempted to flee, and the father chased after him and continued his assault, then as far as I know, that's not a justified homicide.

You can defend yourself (or another person), but once the person flees, you usually can't chase after them to continue the assault.